S5 Episode #16- Meg Vanderbilt
THE ONE With MEG VANDERBILT
This week I am excited to welcome Meg Vanderbilt to the podcast! Meg is the founder and executive director of Bit of Hope Ranch. In this episode, she shares the story of how God took her passions and turned them into a powerful ministry to reach, rescue and restore hurting children, families and horses through equine assisted therapy. Meg shares a moving testimony of the ways that she has encountered Christ through working with the horses and her clients. She encourages us to lean into The Father because He is not done with your story– He is doing a new thing and we will be amazed at what happens when we release control to Him.
MORE ABOUT MEG
Meg Vanderbilt brings 30 years of experience as a horsewoman. Her training methods are solution focused with an emphasis on natural horsemanship methods. She has spent time learning from horses so that they feel confident in saying “yes” to requests. She brings decades of instructing, training and managing to offer the horses and animals the very best care. Meg also has a degree in Chemistry and Biology which she has used with her team to develop Cowboy Logic Educational Programs as well as the Herdmanship University @ Bit of Hope Ranch.
The Bit of Hope Ranch mission is to Reach, Rescue and Restore broken children, families and horses through programs that build mind, body and spirit. They focus on the skills necessary to build a healthy relationship with a horse and apply them to the relationship with ourselves, others and with our God.
Meg also uses a Christian minded energy healing approach for horses and humans based on the laws of quantum physics and nature. Her passion for finding root causes to problems often lead to lasting solutions. She offers services to those at the Ranch as well as in other settings.
Spiritually, Meg and her husband Matt and three kids pastor a non denominational church in Gastonia, NC. They seek to flow in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in their ministries at church, their home and in their community.
At home, Meg also raises Giant Flemish rabbits and has rescued cats, dogs and chickens. There is always fur and feathers, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
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Meg loved horses from a young age. She was always drawn to the horses that had challenges that other riders didn’t want to handle. As she grew up, she realized that her true passion was for the children who were walking through struggles and seeing how the horses could help transform their lives.
WHEN A 25 CENT POSTER BOARD CHANGES EVERYTHING
Resource: Holy Ambition by Chip Ingram
When Meg had the idea for Bit of Hope Ranch, she didn’t have any land, money, or horses. Yet she bought a piece of poster board and began to lay out the vision for what God was placing on her heart.
Meg and her husband faced many “no’s” as they began to walk this path. It took three years before they found the right land and the right investor to move forward with the project.
The land was in rough shape when Meg found it, but God has restored the land and brought beautiful things out of it!
LIFE LESSONS FROM HORSES
When the horses are being used for counseling, then need to be the raw horse that God created them to be. Horses have an innate ability to know what is needed in a given situation. They do not hold offenses, they are present in the moment, they know when to draw close or when to move away.
The horses are trained in a way that builds confidence, connection and trust in the leader. The horse is able to say “yes” to being led because of the connection. This is how The Lord leads us– He guides us gently through our connection and trust built over time.
Horses are very suspicious, observant and cautious. They are in tune with the world around them, they can recognize the emotional signals that humans often try to hide when they enter a therapy session. Horses respond to what the human is bringing into an area.
RELEASING CONTROL
Meg shares that she continually feels like she is not enough– there are not enough resources, not enough volunteers… The weight of leadership can feel very heavy. When she begins to feel the stress in her body, it is a reminder to her that something is out of alignment with Christ.
“Press into The Father.” We are often comfortable standing in the presence of God, but we need to learn into Him and let go of control. Everything might not get done in a day, but we must ask who we are truly serving.
When working with horses, we ask them to “yield to a bit”. When they soften to a bit, they are a well-trained horse and a joy to ride. We must be like a horse that softens to the bit. We relax into Him and are able to follow where He leads.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Meg is now 17 years into this journey, and God is still not done. We must keep asking God, “Now what, what’s next?” Meg’s vision board 17 years ago wasn’t the end of the dream, it was only the beginning. There will come a time in walking out your purpose that you will have to turn the vision board over and continue to dream.
“How interesting…” God has a plan that He is revealing one step at a time.
TAKING THE FIRST STEP
If you’re not sure where to start on your vision board, think about these questions:
What am I good at? What comes easy to me?
You may not see the full picture yet, but you can start with one word of image.
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The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes Biondo and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.